some things just take hard work, and that's it

i always feel so shallow making apologies for my absence online, so i'm not gonna.

i've been purposely avoiding spending too much time online lately. real life has been needing my attention. work, but mostly life. i can't seem to get as much time as i need for any one thing, and the internet would only make that worse. since things have been moving along so quickly, i've been enjoying any silent moment in my day that i can find.

an interesting topic of discussion in our house lately has been finding the value in plain old work. just making it through the day is the goal - nothing groundbreaking, earth-shattering or even inspiring, just babysteppin' it. lying down in bed at night and not knowing where the heck the day went is a common feeling for me lately, but one that's good to get used to. i let my mental checklist and high expectations dictate whether i feel like i've earned a gold star each day, and it puts unnecessary pressure on me and my family. in the grand scheme of things, my checklist rarely matters anyway.

thank goodness for christopher o'riley and his heart calming, plinky covers of radiohead greats: